HELENA MAGUIRE CAT & DONKEY POSTCARD ARTIST Painted ANTIQUE 8" Minton Tile Blank

Description: HELENA MAGUIRE CAT & DONKEY POSTCARD ARTIST Hand Painted on ANTIQUE 8" Minton Tile Blank - MINTON’S CHINA WORKS A VERY RARE or UNIQUE PIECE - an antique tile set in a modern wooden frame with gold finish. The tile is hand painted in underglaze brown on cream, depicting a donkey feeding, together with a cat or kitten. The scene is a copy of a scene originally painted by the famous Victorian & Edwardian artist Helena Maguire and used from 1901 as a postcard and early Christmas card - part of a series of donkey and cat cards titled "WHEN SHALL WE FOUR MEET AGAIN?" ( see tuckdbpostcards.org ). The scene is painted on a Minton blank tile, and then fired again. I would think that this tile is Edwardian ( or maybe late Victorian), produced in the early 1900s when Helena Maguire’s work was extremely popular. The tile is marked on the back with Minton’s globe logo with “STOKE UPON TRENT, WALBROOK LONDON” and “MINTON’S CHINA WORKS, STOKE ON TRENT” . This is a rare tile - I can’t find any record online of Helena Maguire’s work being produced on tiles. It’s unsigned, perhaps by Helena herself - she was a prolific artist - and it is extremely well painted. Born to a family of artists in London, Helena Maguire ( 1860 - 1909 ) painted still life images common to British life in the 1800’s. But her most popular subjects were of children, cats and dogs. She was an illustrator of many children’s books. She also exhibited at the Institute of Painters in watercolors and at the Royal Academy, both of London, from 1881 to 1892. Her father Thomas H. Maguire was an artist and engraver noted for his portraits of prominent figures. In 1854, he was appointed lithographer to Queen Victoria and for a time had a studio in Osborne House on the Isle of Wight where he executed many lithographic portraits of members of the Royal Family. Helena’s cats were reproduced in prints and postcard predominantly during the post card boom of late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Raphael Tuck & Sons of London were in the forefront of the post card boom and printed many of Helena’s Christmas and anthropomorphic cat postcards. Raphael Tuck & Sons were also noted for launching the Christmas card industry as an annual custom throughout the world today. Condition - Very Good used antique condition. With some surface signs of wear and light crazing, as expected. No visible chips or cracks. I’ve not taken tile out of frame. Frame is in good order. Ready to hang on display. Please see all photos to help assess condition fully. Size - approx - tile 20.5 cm or over 8” square, frame - 26.0 cm or 10 1/4” square, 2.0 cm or 3/4” deep Postage and Packing - I pack parcels very well using recycled materials where possible, both to keep costs down and be more sustainable. Please try to reuse or recycle packaging where you can. Please note I do not make any money on postage. I’m happy to combine postage where possible- just buy what you like and I will refund any excess postage costs. UK - £6.50 - signed for 2nd class postage by Royal Mail

Price: 120 GBP

Location: Totnes, Devon

End Time: 2024-09-14T09:36:32.000Z

Shipping Cost: 41.79 GBP